Languages

[Camerus]

I suck at pinyin 

What's the name for the Romanization system used by Cantonese speakers in HK?  Is it just Wade-Giles or what?

[Monoriu]

What's the name for the Romanization system used by Cantonese speakers in HK?  Is it just Wade-Giles or what?

We don't use romanization at all, as far as I am aware.  Pinyin is a mainland thing. 

[Camerus]

What's the name for the Romanization system used by Cantonese speakers in HK?  Is it just Wade-Giles or what?

We don't use romanization at all, as far as I am aware.  Pinyin is a mainland thing.

I see.  But sometimes I see the romanization of Cantonese at karaoke here in Nanjing.... or in HK place names.  But obviously it is not terribly common.

[Ed Anger]

I still call Beijing Peking. And nobody is gonna make me change. Damn kids and their new fangled ways.

[Monoriu]

I still call Beijing Peking. And nobody is gonna make me change. Damn kids and their new fangled ways.

There is a very well known restaurant in HK known as Peking Garden.  Most people here also say/write Peking duck, not Beijing duck.

So you are hardly unique 

[Strix]

I still call Beijing Peking. And nobody is gonna make me change. Damn kids and their new fangled ways.

I feel the same way. I keep addressing everything I send downstate to New Amsterdam. It keeps getting sent back! Those damn Tory lovers and their New York City nonsense.

[Eddie Teach]

Pinyin may be more accurate, but Wade-Giles is generally a lot prettier.

[Monoriu]

All forms of romanization is unnecessary.  Just memorize the pronounciations

[PDH]

Wade-Giles, though, had all those special pronounciation rules - letters didn't sound like English necessarily...

[Admiral Yi]

All forms of romanization is unnecessary.  Just memorize the pronounciations

Some civilizations have discovered this ingenious technology called "writing."

[Monoriu]

All forms of romanization is unnecessary.  Just memorize the pronounciations

Some civilizations have discovered this ingenious technology called "writing."

Isn't Alphabets a dead end and basically useless if you don't intend to trade techs?

[Eddie Teach]

Isn't Alphabets a dead end and basically useless if you don't intend to trade techs?

Why wouldn't you want to be able to extort techs?

[swallow]

Apropos to what I was saying in the Brit-in-Quebec thread, it just goes to show the yawning gulf between learning a language in elementary or secondary school, and actually being able to use it in real life.

Son and I have just now started learning Spanish together for going on holiday.  We're using the BBC schools, which is excellent, and are starting at primary level.  The gap between where we've started and where we need to get to does seem enormous

[Crazy_Ivan80]

My Chinese is still extremely shitty.  However, I find I do have to use it a lot here in Nanjing, since most people (especially store and restaurant staff) usually literally don't speak a word of English, other than "hello" and "bye bye".

In the buildup to the 88 Olympics the Korean government embarked on a massive year-long training program and managed to teach most school children how to say "welcome to Korea."

And 20 years later, most can now manage "Hello", "What's your name?" "How are you?", and "Fine, thank you. And you?"

they can probably say 'starcraft' and 'kekekekeke' too :p

[lustindarkness]

What if after the last decade in the US my english is better than my native spanish, how should I vote?